I'm currently putting together ideas for my master's project which I'll be working on over the summer, and I would like to be able to use this time to help Ubuntu in some way. I have the freedom to come up with pretty much any project in the field of software development/engineering provided it

• Is a substantial piece of software (for reference, I will be working on it for five full months)
• Solves a problem for more people than just myself

I was hoping to use this project as an opportunity to get some experience with the underbelly of Linux, so that I can mention on my CV that I have 'experience in developing for *NIX in C++', which I'm noticing more and more companies are looking for these days, probably because stuff's moving to cloud servers and that's where Linux rules the roost.

My problem is that, since I don't have the experience to begin with, I'm not sure what to do for such a project, and I was wondering if anyone could help me with this. I've noticed from Daniel Holbach's blog that Ubuntu participated in the Google Summer of Code 2010, and that project ideas for that can be found here. However, I have not been able to find anything related to Ubuntu and GSoC 2011, but I have noticed from the GSoC timeline that the list of mentoring organisations will not be published until March 18th.

I have two questions here. Has Ubuntu applied to be a part of Summer of Code 2011, and what is the status of the 2010 project list linked to earlier. Were they all implemented or are there still some that can be picked up now, should I not participate in GSoC? I'd like to do something for Ubuntu, but I'd rather not spend my time reinventing the wheel.